Familiar Faces
by Tenik
Summary: Buffy returned from Los Angeles pregnant (IWRY). She never discovered who the father was. Now it's the Year 2014 and her daughter has run away to Los Angeles where she bumps into both Spike and Angel. *Complete*
1. Striking Resemblance

**Author:** Tenik   
**Email:** tenik42@yahoo.com   
**Rating:** PG I think   
**Status:** Part 1 of ?   
**Setting:** 15 years after IWRY, with some flash back memories.   
**Summary:** This is an answer to challenge #11 on Sunlight and Shadow. It's the year 2014 and Spike's in Los Angeles where he sees a very familiar looking girl. If you want to know more about the story you could read the challenge details but it might give away some of the story plot.   
**Feedback:** I read a lot of fanfiction but rarely write any. So I would love to get some feedback on how I'm doing. With a bit of encouragement It might stop me procrastinating and I'll finish it sooner. Also if I've doing something really wrong with my writing, advice is welcome too.   
**Disclaimer:** Standard disclaimer applies. This means I don't legally own much of the story, characters, concepts, or even the original plot idea isn't mine. So I guess all that's mine are the words, simple words strung together to make sentences.   
  
***********   


Los Angeles, California. 2014. 

The cold grey buildings loomed over the darkened streets blocking out most of the night sky. A few stars were barely visible through the cities smog and lights. The streets were still fairly busy as people hurried on paying no attention to one another, lost in their own personal worlds. 

Spike stood in the shadows at the corner of an alley. He liked shadows. Shadows are where evil lurks. Spike could stand in the shadows and smirk while pretending that he could kill people if he wanted to. He hated the chip and cursed the dam initiative. But he hadn't given up all hope, over time the chip had been becoming less effective. Now he could commit small acts of violence like shoving someone out of the way. Spike knew it was only a matter of time before he could kill again and being immortal he had all the time in the world. Now all he had to do was learn to be patient. 

Spike sighed from frustration. Patience is a difficult thing to learn. He fished into the pocket of his black leather coat, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. The rising smoke from the cigarette started to make him feel a bit better. Spike leaned against the wall while smoking and watched the many faceless people walk by. He was about to put his cigarette out and leave when a familiar face in the crowd caught his attention. 

It was like seeing a ghost or more precisely a image from the past, a shard of memory jarring his thoughts. The picture was perfect from her slight nose to the soft pouting lips. Her eyes were so bright, highlighted by the short browny blond hair. Spike growled deep in his throat and muttered, "Bloody Slayer". 

It was at that moment that reality caught up with Spike. The girl standing a couple of metres in front him looked younger than the memories he had of Buffy. Then there was also the fact that Buffy was dead. Spike wore a puzzled expression as he watched the girl stop under a street sign, pull a crumpled map out of her pocket and stare at it intently. He was intrigued, who was this girl who looked so similar to Buffy. Spike decided he had nothing better to do and started following the girl keeping to the shadows. 

As it got later the crowds began to thin. The strange girl turned off the street and into an empty alley. She walked a couple of metres before realising that the street was a dead end. The girl pulled out her overused mag and glared at it angrily. She was too busy trying to figure out where she was that she failed to notice a scruffy looking figure appear from behind a dumpster nearby and stalk towards her. Spike who was standing at the entrance of the alley did however notice the figure and could straight away sense what he was. 

The girl screamed as she was grabbed suddenly and tried to struggle out of the vampire's grasp all the while yelling at the top of her lungs. Spike rushed quickly towards the pair and pulled the vampire off her. The attacking vampire snarled at him "Get your own" and focused his attack on Spike. Spike ducked his punches easily burying a stake in his heart. He turned to look at the girl who had collapsed on the ground. Surprisingly she didn't look shocked at all to have just witnessed a vampire turning to dust. 

"You okay?", Spike asked helping the girl up.   
"Yeah, thanks" She answered then mumbled to herself, "stupid vampire".   
"Vampire?"   
"Yeah, you dusted it so I'm guessing you know that vampires are real right?"   
"Well if your so knowledgeable on vampires, then what the hell were you doing alone in an alley at night?"   
"I'm lost. How about you, what's your excuse for lurking around alleys at night?"   
"I wasn't lurking! I was walking past and heard you screaming your head off."   
"Oh my hero!" she said with obvious sarcasm.   
"Dam right."   
"I can take care of myself."   
"Oh so I didn't just see you screaming helplessly in the arms of a vampire."   
"Why do you care?"   
"I don't."   
"Well Mr I-don't-care, you'll just let me go on my way now then."   
"Spike, my name's Spike." 

"Well I'm Samantha, friends call me Sam and I'm going now", she blurted out while pushing past Spike and walking away. But Spike was quick and grabbed her arm before she go very far.   
"Your not going anywhere. It's not safe for you walking alone through these streets at night."   
Sam looked at Spike like she wished he'd just combust on the spot. Little did she know how easily that could have been arranged. "Okay then., what do you suggest I do?"   
"Suggest? I'm meant to have suggestions"   
"Well as fun as this conversation is, I really don't want to stay in this alley all night."   
"Do you have a place to stay?"   
"No" Sam admitted, "I was trying to find this teen shelter I heard about."   
"My place isn't far from here."   
Sam's eyebrows raised.   
"I don't mean anything like that! I have a spare room, extra bed."   
Sam was tired and lost so she gave in. "Okay lets go then."   
  
*********** 


	2. Trip down memory lane

**Author:** Tenik   
**Email:** tenik42@yahoo.com   
**Rating:** PG I think   
**Status:** Unfinished   
**Setting:** 15 years after IWRY, with some flash back memories.   
**Summary:** This is an answer to challenge #11 on Sunlight and Shadow (http://ficgoddess.com/sunlightshadow). It's the year 2014 and Spike's in Los Angeles where he sees a very familiar looking girl. If you want to know more about the story you could read the challenge details but it might give away some of the story plot.   
**Feedback:** Big thanks to the people who wrote reviews. This part is dedicated to them because if it wasn't for their feedback then who knows how long I would have procrastinated before writing some more.   
**Disclaimer:** Standard disclaimer applies once again. I still don't own anything.   
  


***********

Spike lounged on his couch watching the flickering television in the corner but not paying any attention to what was on the screen. He could hear the dull rush of water through the walls, indicating that Sam was still taking a shower. Spike's mind was full of thoughts spinning around like heated particles. Sometimes they would crash. _*Why the bloody hell am I being so nice to this chit? I didn't have to offer her a place to stay...I'm sure she would have found that teen shelter in the end. I shouldn't care if she gets murdered in some dark alley. I'm Evil!*_ He reassured himself by explaining his actions away as curiosity. A whole dam lot of curiosity. _*Who is she? Why does this girl look so much like Buffy? What's she doing in LA? Is she some distant relative of Buffy's? A cousin maybe?*_

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the sound of a stifled laugh from behind him. He had been so wrapped up that he hadn't noticed that the shower had stopped minutes ago.   
"You're watching sesame street?" the voice from behind questioned while trying not to burst out laughing.   
"I am bloody not" Spike retorted as his eyes focussed on the television only to find with horror that the blue furry thing on the television was in fact the cookie monster. He rushed forward to turn the set off and turned to glare at the grinning girl. Spike's glaring was starting to make Sam feel uncomfortable. After deciding that she couldn't win a staring contest with him she broke the silence by changing the subject. 

"So,...do you live here alone?" Sam asked indicating to the small but well furnished apartment.   
"Yep, ever since I moved here about a year ago", Spike answered returning to his seat on the couch.   
"So what do you do?"   
"Do?" Spike questioned, unsure what she had meant.   
Sam elaborated "Do as in job".   
Vampire's are rarely asked what they do for a living (no pun intended) and Spike's mind went blank. He only knew of one vampire with a job.   
"I'm a Private Investigator."   
"Cool, that sounds like an interesting job." 

Spike had answered enough questions about himself, he wanted answers.   
"How about you? What are you doing in LA?"   
Sam looked uncomfortable. "Well, I know it sounds immature but I ran away from home."   
Spike had already guessed that much. Walking around the streets of LA alone at night equals runaway. Spike put on a concerned face, he wanted to know more. "Where are you from?"   
"Who care's"   
"I do."   
Sam's voice turned cold. "Yeah so you can send me home, I don't think so."   
"Your parents are probably worried about you."   
"I don't have any parents."   
"Everyone must have had parents at some point."   
"I never met my father. My mum died when I was six."   
"I'm sorry."   
"Don't be. It's not your problem." 

Spike thought he could see a tear forming in the girl's eye before she quickly turned around to face his kitchen. "Um, I'm hungry" she said obviously changing the subject. "Can I raid your fridge?"   
"No!" Spike said jumping up and blocking her path. "Uh there's nothing in there" he added trying to explain his strange actions. "I haven't been shopping yet, but you can order pizza if you're hungry, the phone's in there" he said pointing to the hallway. "Thanks" Sam said disappearing into the hallway. 

Spike looked towards the refrigerator standing innocently between the sink and oven. He had been lying when he had said there was nothing in there. His fridge was in fact filled with packets of blood. Spike didn't want Sam to find out he was a vampire, she would most likely panic and leave and then he would never find out who she was. 

As Spike settled back in the comfort of his fairly new furniture he marvelled at how much this young girl reminded him of Buffy. The girl that he blamed all his misfortune on. He remembered the last time he had seen Buffy, just before he had left Sunnydale for good. It had been bloody hard to do. For some reason he was drawn to Sunnydale and that was the reason he'd kept returning. But Sunnydale came with bad luck. His bad luck. 

~~~~~~~~

Spike stood in Xander's basement grinning like an idiot. He had just discovered he could hurt demons. No longer was he totally helpless, his life had meaning again, he wanted enough violence to make up for the weeks of humiliation being tied up in the Watcher's bathtub and then living in Xander's basement. 

"I say we go out there and kick a little Demon ass. What? Can't go without your Buffy? Is that it, too chicken? Let's find her, she is the chosen one after all. Come on, vampires, grrr nasty. Let's annihilate them for justice, and for the safety of puppies, Christmas, right. Let's fight that evil, let's kill something!" 

Xander and Willow were unaffected by his rousing speech, so Spike had left the basement heading for one of Sunnydale's cemeteries planning to find something to fight on his own. Instead of locating an unlucky demon or vampire he ran into the Slayer on her nightly patrol. Buffy didn't look happy to see him. 

"Spike! What are you doing here?" she asked sounding annoyed.   
"Same thing you are, I guess" he answered with a smug look on his face. "Unless of course your lurking around graveyards for some other reason."   
"Huh?"   
"Fighting evil", he answered with a grin and thought, *nothing can ruin my mood tonight*. 

"Buffy?" an enquiring voice called out from the bushes. Buffy turned towards the new voice and smiled as Riley appeared through the shrubs.   
"Riley, fancy seeing you here"   
"You too", Riley replied grinning back at her with a goofy smile.   
"Bloody Hell!" Spike muttered to himself. It was then that Riley realised that he and Buffy weren't alone.   
"What's Xander's friend doing here?" 

Spike's previous good mood disappeared as fast as ice in a desert. He realised that if he stuck around in Sunnydale then sooner or later he'd run into more trouble, probably involving the Initiative or maybe even with the Slayer. He'd had enough.   
"Sod this! I've had enough of this cursed place. I start feeling a bit better and what happens? Buffy's idiot commando friend turns up and they begin making googly eyes at each other..."   
Buffy and Riley just watched him in shock, neither of them able to interrupt his rant.   
"...I'm leaving. And for good this time! Sunnydale is just full of bad luck out to get me."   
Spike paused before his last comment. "I hope never to see any of your Scoobies or you Slayer, ever again!" 

After the last word had been said he quickly turned around and stalked off into the night, leaving Sunnydale behind him for good. 

Riley turned to Buffy, wearing a confused expression.   
"What happened to Xander's friend's accent?" 

~~~~~~~~

Since that day Spike had thought about returning to Sunnydale many times. He was proud that he hadn't given in, although he did wonder what would have happened if he had stayed. Of course he could never really know. _*That's the past and this is now*_ Spike thought, _*...and for some reason the now includes some one who looks just like the past*._


	3. Icecream and Pizza

**Author:** Tenik   
**Email:** tenik42@yahoo.com   
**Rating:** PG I think   
**Status:** Unfinished   
**Setting:** 15 years after IWRY, with some flash back memories.   
**Summary:** This is an answer to challenge #11 on Sunlight and Shadow (http://ficgoddess.com/sunlightshadow). It's the year 2014 and Spike's in Los Angeles where he sees a very familiar looking girl. If you want to know more about the story you could read the challenge details but it might give away some of the story plot.   
**Feedback:** I love feedback, I try to write feedback for other fanfic authors when I read their stories so please take the time to comment on mine.   
**Disclaimer:** There is no way that anyone reading this will ever think I actually own any of these characters or concepts. If I did I wouldn't be writing fanfics in the first place would I? But just in case... I'm sorry to say that I don't own Spike or Angel.   
**Authors notes:** Sorry it took me awhile to write more but I've been busy with uni stuff. Also sorry its shorter than the other parts but I'll try and update sooner.   
  


***********

Angel stood on the street outside Spike's apartment building. He was half hidden in the shadows and had been standing there since Spike had arrived home earlier that evening with a girl. Ever since Spike had arrived in L.A. Angel had been keeping an eye on him. Many years ago he had heard from the gang in Sunnydale that Spike could no longer harm people and had promised not to stake the harmless vampire. But Spike was in HIS town now and Angel was just looking for an excuse to beat the crap out of him. 

A car pulled up outside the building and a young man carrying a flat box jumped out and headed inside. *_Ah ha!_* Angel thought, *_Spike's must be up to something_*. Then he marched off round the corner his coat flapping dramatically behind him. *_It's time for payback_* he thought referring to the torturing incident that had happened many years ago. *_I can't wait to see his face when I break down his door armed with weapons and followed by my crew._* Angel didn't think he'd have any trouble convincing them to return with him to the apartment. 

Meanwhile Sam was closing the door to that apartment after paying the pizza delivery man. She turned to Spike who was leaning against the wall. "I hope you don't mind, but I got some ice cream as well" she said indicating the small container in her hand. She carried that and the pizza box over to the couch and placed them on the coffee table while continuing to ramble on. "Of course you can have some too, but not too much. It's my favourite flavour!" 

Sam then proceeded to devour the pizza. Spike looked at the carton of ice cream. The label said it was cookie dough fudge mint chip. It sounded sickeningly sweet.   
"Uh, no thanks" he replied.   
"Your loss" she said while picking up the remote and flicking through the channels.   
Soon she was engrossed in a random television program, lounging in his couch and munching her way through a pizza. Spike took this moment to retreat the short distance to his kitchen, planning on getting his own snack without the young girl noticing. He pulled a packet of blood out of the fridge and stayed there while quietly drinking his dinner. 

When Spike was throwing away the empty packet he noticed Sam's backpack sitting on the counter. He was curious. Well actually he was extremely curious, that was the main reason he had helped this girl in the first place. Spike picked up the bag. He knew it was wrong to go through over people's stuff, but as he rummaged through her bag he thought *_I'm evil so I don't care!_*. 

Spike was bored by the contents in the main pocket, just items of clothing and a book, so he zipped open the front pocket. Inside he found her crumpled map of LA, a wallet, some keys, a pen and a half eaten chocolate bar. Spike took out the wallet, the most interesting item in his opinion and probably the thing that could tell him more about her. 

This wallet had a plastic pocket inside it where a person could keep cards or small photos. There was a photo on top and it made Spike gasp. It was Buffy. He could tell it wasn't just the similar looking Sam because the Buffy in the picture looked to be in her early twenties. He pulled the picture out to get a better look at it and noticed some writing on the back. 

Spike turned it over reading the short inscription, 'Mom, 2004'. 


	4. Naming chapters is difficult

**A/N:** Thanks for the feedback and advice. You guys are great! This part is dedicated to everyone who leaves reviews. If you're reading this and you haven't written any reviews just give it a try. Constructive criticism is okay. It's so easy, just click the little purple button at the bottom..... please! 

***********

Sam grinned at the television. It wasn't that the program she was watching was funny. It was supposed to be some sort of drama, but with unrealistically dramatic things happening every couple of minutes, Sam was finding it hard not to burst out laughing at how absurd the program was. *_I wonder who writes this stuff_* she thought, *_and when the sister you never knew existed turns up and tells you that they're pregnant with your gay son's boyfriend's child, should your first comment really be 'but I thought he was in a coma?'_* 

When the plot of the program started getting too much for her brain Sam started thinking about home. And with thoughts of home came that guilty feeling she was trying to avoid. Sam knew they would of realised that she was gone by now. They would be worrying. *_I don't want them to worry but I couldn't stay there any longer_* She had felt trapped in Sunnydale and had wanted to see some other places. Although she admitted to herself it wasn't just the feeling of being trapped in a place but also trapped in her life. Sam had felt the urgent need to get out and this morning had just left, catching the first bus heading out of Sunnyhell. 

Arriving in Los Angeles the place had been far more overwhelming then she had expected. *_I got lost and attacked by a vampire on my first night here.... But I guess it worked out okay in the end._* Sam started thinking about Spike. She was glad that he had saved her in that alley, even if she wasn't planning admitting out loud that she had needed any help at all. *_He seems like a nice guy._* With these thoughts of Spike, Sam started to wonder what Spike was up to. She swivelled round on the couch and looked towards the kitchen. The contents of her bag were all over the counter and Spike was holding her wallet and staring at one of her pictures. 

Sam started yelling at the top of her lungs while rushing forward to rescue her possessions.   
"What the HELL are you doing?!"   
Spike was caught of guard and stood there open mouthed while Sam continued to rant.   
"My Stuff! You were going through my stuff! That's just wrong! I can't believe it. You had better have a good explanation!" She stopped, her face fixed in a glare, radiating anger.   
Spike wondered why his mouth didn't seem to be working properly or why his brain hadn't come up with a brilliant excuse yet.   
"Well, I...uh, Do you have a light?" 

***********

Back in Sunnydale. 1630 Revello Drive. 

When Buffy had died and left her daughter in the Giles' care, he had moved into the Summers residence. Giles had wanted to bring up Buffy's daughter in her own home. Now the house was quiet and lonely and Giles was worried, frustrated but still extremely worried. He felt like slamming down the phone but didn't want to seem childish. "Yes I do understand that it hasn't been exactly 24 hours yet.... Of course I've rung all her friends houses.... Couldn't you just.... No I don't think its possible that she's just out shopping.... that's ridiculous!" 

Giles gave in and hung up. The receiver made a satisfying clunk when it hit phone and for a brief moment it made him feel better. But then the worry set in again and Giles' stomach tied in knots. Deep down he felt like he was letting Buffy down. That he wasn't doing his best to bring up her daughter. 

Giles looked up when he heard the sound of the kitchen door swing open as Willow rushed in. "Is she here? Have you found her yet? She's okay, right?" Her face expectant with hope fell when she saw the look of despair etched across his forehead. A small "Oh" escaped from her mouth. Willow joined him at the counter, resting her head in her arms.   
"What are we going to do?"   
"I don't know, I've talked to the police but its too early to file a missing persons report." The contempt for the police was evident in Giles' voice.   
They both sighed and silently sat at the counter, both lost in thoughts that they were to blame for Sam's disappearance. 

***********

Angel burst through the Hyperion Hotel's doors, startling the people scattered about the main room. Cordelia was standing behind the counter shuffling papers, probably sorting them with her own personal filing system. Gunn and Fred were sitting on the couches chatting while Gunn polished his battling axe and Wesley was walking across the room heading towards the offices, his arms weighed down with heavy books. Fourteen years ago Angel would have never expected that they would all still be hanging around, helping him fight the good fight. 

Cordelia looked at Angel's excited face. "You look like someone who just won a million dollars.... Did you just win a million dollars?" she added hopefully.   
"No" Angel replied, "Spike..."   
"Your excited about Spike? Gunn questioned, "What, did he just propose to you."   
Angel glared at Gunn for his inappropriate humour. "If you would just let me finish. I think Spike's up to something. We should definitely head for his place now armed with weapons. Who knows what evil plans he has um, planned." 

Wesley gave Angel a sceptical look. "Many years ago Giles informed us of his harmless state due to a government chip. What makes you believe he's up to something now?"   
Angel seemed surprised that his decision was being questioned.   
"We don't know that the chip's still working."   
"Do you have proof otherwise?"   
"Well someone arrived at his place tonight carrying a flat square box."   
Fred joined in, "You mean like the kind Pizzas come in?"   
"Vampires don't order pizzas!" Angel retorted annoyed at the lack of action. So he gave up and turned on his heel. "I'll just have to stop Spike on my own."   
Cordelia spoke up once Angel had departed, "Do you think we should stop him?"   
Gunn answered her question with a short, "Nah". 

***********

**A/N:** I'm not sure if I got Buffy's house number right. Is it 1630 Revello Drive? If not please tell me so I can fix it. Anything else that doesn't seem right, just tell me. 


	5. A whole lot of Fighting

**A/N:**This part is dedicated to Insane1, for her many reviews and advice. You told me to go and write this straight away... so I did. 

***********

It didn't take Angel long to return to Spike's apartment building. Instead of going into the building and up the stairs like normal people do, Angel climbed up the fire escape. He reached one of Spike's apartment windows and started trying to break it open. Angel liked dramatic entrances. If you saved the world on a daily basis you were entitled to a dramatic entrance every now and then. He could hear loud angry voices coming from inside. 

"I still can't believe you went through my stuff!" Sam yelled from exactly the same position she had been standing in before. Spike who had dropped the items in question finally found his tongue and joined in with her yelling session.   
"I wouldn't need to if you weren't so secretive!"   
"Oh so this is all my fault is it?"   
"Dam right. Glad you're finally seeing the light."   
"Huh? How in the world is any of this my fault?"   
"Well, it wasn't me who ran away from home, it wasn't me who was wandering around LA at night, it wasn't me..."   
Sam interrupted him, "Hey, Mister can't keep his nose out of other peoples business. It wasn't ME who was looking through someone else's personal photos."   
"Which leads to the question, why do you have a picture of Buffy Summers in your wallet?"   
"That's my Mom you idiot! Or can't you read?"   
"So you're the Slayer's daughter?" Spike questioned still sceptical.   
"How do you know she was a Slayer?"   
"I fought her many times. She's bloody impossible to kill" Spike answered not thinking.   
"You tried to kill my Mother?!...Why?.... Oh my Gosh. You, You're a Vampire!"   
"So what. You're a bloody annoying brat!"   
"You're a evil lying monster!"   
"Thanks for the compliment pet." 

Angel had broken through the window and stood in the living room. He saw the empty pizza box on the table and remembered Fred's comment. Angel started to feel a bit unsure. He then noticed a small carton of cookie dough fudge mint chip ice cream sitting next to the box, it brought back memories and he smiled. Angel turned to look at the other occupants in the room and was disappointed to find that they hadn't noticed his dramatic entrance, hadn't even acknowledged his presence at all. They were too busy exchanging insults. 

"Uh, Hello?" Angel said loudly trying to get the pairs attention.   
They both turned to glare at him. Spike was the first to speak, his voice full of sarcasm.   
"Peaches, to what do I owe this pleasure."   
Now that Sam had turned to face him Angel noticed the resemblance to Buffy.   
"Buffy?... but..."   
"Nah, Ya Poofter. Meet Buffy's daughter, Sam."   
"Since when does Buffy have a daughter?"   
Angel thought Spike was playing some sort of trick on him and wasn't going to be fooled any longer. He decided they'd done enough talking and lunged at Spike. Before Spike could answer Angel's question he was punched in the jaw. He quickly recovered and managed to block the next swing and aimed a kick at Angel's midsection. 

Sam had backed away and was standing against the wall in shock while she watched the two of them go at it. At first she had been worried that Spike would easily kill the man he had called peaches, but now she realised that they were more evenly matched. With horror Sam came to the conclusion that she was in a room with two fighting pissed-off vampires. Her previous anger forgotten she snuck silently out the door. As soon as she was out the door she starting running as fast as she could wanting to put as much distance between herself and that place as she could. 

***********

**A/N:** Will Angel and Spike kill each other? Will they ever find Sam again? Tune in next time. =) Please leave a review. Thanks. 


	6. Phonecall Away

**A/N:** I'm sorry to say that I won't be able to update very regularly because my university holidays just finished and I'm back to being busy with assignments and essays. But I will try and write more whenever I can. 

**Insane1**- Your welcome. Wow someone's addicted to my story. Well I was addicted to your story and I still want a sequel!   
**Teri**- Don't worry I won't be too hard on Giles, I'm also glad I picked him in the end. When I started writing this story and was thinking about who Sam would have been living with I totally forgot about him. The voting reminded me.   
**soulwarrior**- Don't worry I'm not pissed off. Constructive criticism is very helpful. I'll try and answer your flaw comments:   
1. I thought vampires couldn't enter someone living's place without an invite. (Like in that Angel episode where Kate's Dad was being Killed by vampires, Angel could enter without an invite once he was dead) Vampires are dead so I was pretty sure they didn't need invites.   
2. Sam had her back to Angel when he entered. Her hair is browner than Buffy's, probably has a very different haircut and she's fifteen. So that's why I said that Angel didn't notice the similarities until he saw her face.   
3. He could hear them before he got to the kitchen. He could hear them from outside. I must of not written that clearly enough, sorry.   
4. Your right that is a plot flaw. A plot flaw that I ignored to get the story moving. I think that since Spike moved to Los Angeles about a year ago, Angel probably started feeling like Spike was his responsibility again. So if Spike started causing trouble and killing people then Angel would feel bad. Well I guess its just a plot hole. 

***********

Angel had Spike in grip-hold around the neck and would have been choking him to death despite the fact that vampires luckily didn't need oxygen. While Spike was struggling to get out of Angel's grip, he noticed that the room was emptier than it had been a few minutes ago. Specifically missing an annoying teenage girl.   
"oody ell, am's on!"   
"What was that?" Angel asked as he let go of his grip on Spike and grinned when he hit the floor.   
"I said..." Spike answered picking himself of the floor, "Bloody Hell Sam's gone."   
"The girl pretending to be Buffy's daughter?"   
"She is Buffy's daughter, you wanker." 

Spike picked up the photo that had been left on the kitchen counter and showed it to Angel. Angel stared at the picture of Buffy. The Buffy in the picture was older than the last time he had seen her. She was smiling at the photographer but behind the posed expression Angel could see the worry in her eyes. Angel's eyes started to mist up and a small half smile played on his lips. Spike groaned.   
Angel looked up at Spike, "How did she get this photo?"   
Spike looked frustrated, "How the hell would I know, do I look like a member of the Scooby gang!"   
"I think we need to ring Sunnydale" Angel suggested.   
"Right" Spike agreed with Angel then realised what he was doing.   
"I mean, I was planning on doing that already" he added, not wanting to admit that Angel had a good idea and he was agreeing with it. 

***********

Sam wandered along the streets of Los Angeles. As she glanced around at the surrounding buildings she started to worry that she was heading into a bad part of town. Without her map this time Sam felt even more lost than before, lost and betrayed. But this time luck or maybe fate was on her side and she came across the building she had been looking for in the first place. It was a teen shelter for kids on the street. 

Sam walked up to the door, knocked and nervously waited on the door step. The door was opened by a friendly looking, blond haired woman in her thirties. Sam wasn't sure what to say first.   
"I uh, um..."   
"Do you need a place to stay for the night?"   
Sam nodded her head and let the lady lead her into the building. She then held out her hand to Sam.   
"You look like you're new to the city. I'm Anne."   
Sam took her hand and shook it, "Sam".   
Anne smiled at the shy girl and wondered why for some reason she looked familiar. 

***********

In the living room of Sam's home Giles sat stirring his tea constantly, he had hoped the tea would have calmed his nerves but the worry was still eating away at him. Willow was pacing up and down the room as it gave her something to do, because when she sat still she starting feeling helpless. Xander who had joined them at the house not too long ago sat on the couch, his rigid posture and fidgeting hands were indicators of his concern. 

None of them said anything. They had run out of ideas. Giles had rung all Sam's friends houses, Willow had rung the hospital and Xander had checked all Sam's favourite places around Sunnydale and even places she never went. They were desperate. The shrill ring of a telephone echoed through the house and they all jumped. 

Willow lunged for the phone. Picking up the phone she said in a hopeful voice, "Hello?"   
"Willow?" The voice on the end of the phone sounded familiar.   
"...It's me Angel."   
Willow's face looked surprised when she found out it was Angel. They hadn't heard from him in years, hadn't seen him since Buffy's funeral. 

***********

**A/N**- Sorry it's shortish. Anyone notice the plot hole in this part. If you don't then I can just pretend it didn't happen. 


	7. Heading for LA

**A/N-** I'm an idiot. You tell people there's a plot hole and they see plot holes I didn't even realise were there. I fixed the one I had thought of with an extremely obvious suggestion from a friend, I'm surprised I didn't actually think of writing that in the first place, thanks Hayley. 

**Insane1-** I have to think about this. Lets see... I was referring to the Buffy's final Death. Buffy died in 2005. Sam would have been six. Maybe she was too young to go to the funeral (funerals can be long). Maybe taken to visit her grave another day. Or if she did go maybe Angel didn't notice her, if there were lots of people at the funeral. I can just imagine nearly everyone in Sunnydale who knew about the monsters in the dark, or had been saved by her in the past, turning up. Or maybe Angel felt uncomfortable at a large funeral and came afterwards. Hmm... I think I'll actually write something about this later in the story. A funeral flash back memory. 

***********

"Oh,... Angel", Willow repeated.   
"You sound disappointed."   
"Well we're kind of waiting for a phone call from someone else, or about them actually."   
"This someone else..." Angel started, unsure about how to ask her about Sam. "... they wouldn't happen to be a 15 year old girl with short browny blond hair called Sam."   
"You know where Sam is!" Willow squealed, a strange reaction for a woman in her thirties. 

At the mention of Sam's name both Giles and Xander sprung out of their rigid positions and converged on the phone trying to hear the other side of Willow's conversation. Xander starting pestering Willow and she failed to hear Angel's next comment.   
"Is she there? Is she okay? Can we talk to her?"   
Willow gave an exasperated sigh. "Shush!" She turned back to the phone.   
"Sorry I couldn't hear you."   
Angel repeated himself. "There was a girl here claiming to be Buffy's daughter."   
Willow looked at Giles and Xander, "Sam's in Los Angeles with Angel". She had totally failed to notice Angel's use of the word was.   
Giles looked relieved, "We'll leave right away, get an address." Then he left the room followed by Xander to get some stuff together. 

Willow turned back to the phone once again.   
"She is Buffy's daughter."   
"Oh" Angel said surprised that no one had ever told him.   
"We're leaving now, could you tell me where you are?"   
Angel recited Spike's apartment address for her and she hung up the phone straight away.   
Angel was already thinking of the many questions he wanted answered for when they got here. 

As Angel placed the receiver down he turned to see Spike's expectant face.   
"Well, what did they say?"   
"She really is Buffy's daughter" The way he said it made it sound like he was having trouble believing, even though he had just repeated it out loud.   
"Well duh, I was on that thought band wagon a long time ago. What else did they say?"   
"Um, they're heading here right now."   
"Los Angeles here, or here here" Spike said referring to his apartment.   
Angel had one of those 'oops I wasn't thinking about what I was saying, anyway you heard me say your address out loud, that's right I could see you lurking in the background pretending not to be listening to me on the phone,' expressions on his face.   
Spike voice got angrier, "You invited the Scooby gang to MY apartment! Bloody Hell!" and he stormed over to the kitchen and started searching the cupboards for a nice bottle of scotch, or maybe whiskey.   
Angel was about to try and explain to Spike, but then decided that HE didn't need to explain anything to Spike and went with an insult instead.   
"You really need to learn some new curses, that one's getting old."   
Spike didn't care, he liked the expression 'bloody hell'. He thought it sounded good and worked in many different situations. 

***********

Giles gripped the steering wheel tightly as he drove as fast as he could without going over the speeding limit. Willow was sitting next to him and Xander had the back seat all to himself, both strangely silent. Giles was relieved that they knew where Sam was but worried about what to say when they got there. He admitted to himself that they all probably felt a bit responsible and guilty for Sam's disappearance. Then there was also all the explaining he knew they'd have to do when they got to Los Angeles. Giles remembered back many years ago when Buffy had found out she was pregnant. They were all shocked but oddly not as shocked as Buffy herself was. 

***********

__

Willow lay stretched out on her bed in her and Buffy's dorm room. She was trying to read her way through a particularly boring chapter of her psychology text book on attribution theory. Willow realised that she had just read Kelley's covariation model twice without realising when the sound of the door being opened became a welcome distraction. She looked up to see Buffy walk in and shut the door behind her. 

Buffy's face was white, drawn out, her eyes wide and unseeing. She just stood in the middle of the room frozen to the spot. Willow had known Buffy had been feeling unwell recently but she looked even more stressed now. "Buffy are you okay? What did they doctor say?"   
Buffy tried to smile to reassure Willow that she was okay. "I uh, well..."   
Then Buffy decided to just spit it out and get it over with. "I'm pregnant."   
"Pregnant? Oh my gosh Buffy... Wow! That's... wait who's the father?"   
"I don't know!" Buffy exclaimed the confusion evident on her face.   
"You don't know? But its not like you're sleeping around. You haven't been sleeping around have you?" Willow's face mirrored Buffy's shocked expression at this point.   
"What? No!" Buffy quickly retorted defending herself. "I haven't been sleeping with anyone. No sex recently for me. That's the problem."   
"Parker?"   
"Too long ago."   
"Riley?"   
"We haven't, um, not yet."   
"Xander?"   
"Xander!?"   
"Okay so I'm stretching it. But then how did you get pregnant?"   
"Hello, that's the problem I mentioned earlier."   
"Oh" Willow replied, then her sentimental side kicked in.   
"Aw, it's sort of like a miracle." 

***********

A/N- Sorry I haven't written any in a long time. I was sort of suffering writers block. Hopefully the next part will come more easily and quicker. 


	8. What are you doing here?

It was now many hours after Angel and Willow's phone conversation. The sun had risen over Los Angeles banishing the creatures of darkness to the shadows. One of these creatures of darkness was currently grumpily stretched out on his couch finishing off a bottle of whiskey. He was in a bad mood and starting to wish he had just left Sam in the alley he had found her in. *_Although I am still curious about the whole Slayer has a daughter thing_* Spike thought, so he might as well stick around for the inevitable scooby meeting. *_Not that I seem to have any choice in the matter due to the fact that said meeting is happening in my apartment._* 

Angel was currently pacing back and forth on Spike's carpet. Every couple of minutes stopping to carefully look round the curtains and out the window to the sunny street below. He was wishing that he hadn't given Willow Spike's address and instead organised to meet them at the Hyperion. Angel hadn't been thinking and now he was stuck in Spike's apartment. Stuck in Spike's apartment with Spike. 

"Could you quit trying to wear a hole in my carpet. I think you've reached your brooding quota for the day."   
Angel paused and then marched over to the furniture taking a seat in one of Spike's armchairs, glaring at him the whole time. Angel's glaring stopped as his thoughts interrupted. The same thoughts that had been filling up his head since the phone call. His head was getting crowded and noisy, and they wanted out. "I can't believe Buffy had a child and she never told me."   
"Cause you two were such best friends and you talked about everything."   
Angel didn't like Spike's tone of voice, he had no right to comment on his and Buffy's relationship. "When I was in Sunnydale she'd visit me to talk." 

"Yeah, emphasis on the was. You left remember." Spike liked making Angel feel uncomfortable so he continued. "and she moved on, found herself an annoying farmboy boyfriend. Actually I bet that's who the father probably is. What was his name again? Ronald... nope, ...Riley. That's it commando Riley. Bloody wanker is you ask me. You know he probably walked out on her. Maybe if you had called Sunnydale once in awhile you might have known. But no, soul boy was too wrapped up with his mission to help the bloody helpless of Los Angeles to even pick up a phone and ring the so called love of his life." 

Spike was thoroughly enjoying the guilty look on Angel's face. Angel was trying to come up with a retort but the sound of knocking coming from the front door interrupted their conversation. "Well aren't you gonna answer it. It's obviously not for me." Angel got up and went to the door, opening it to find Giles with Willow and Xander behind him. 

Giles was the first to speak. "It's been a long time."   
Angel nodded and stepped back to invite them in. Before he had a chance to, Xander pushed passed and started babbling. "Sam's okay right? You said she was here. Sam?"   
After a few paces he stopped short, staring at Spike sitting on the couch. "What's fangless doing here?" 

"This happens to be MY apartment. But peaches here forgot to mention that. Along with other things it seems"   
"What other things?" Giles asked as he had now entered the apartment followed by Willow.   
"Well you do know that Sam's not here, right?"   
"But Angel said she was here." Willow replied with an accusatory glance at Angel.   
"Was. I said she was here. We kind of lost her again." defended Angel.   
"We?" Spike added unable to keep quiet. "You were the one who scared her off!"   
"What's deadboy junior got to do with this anyway?" asked Xander.   
"I was the one who found her wandering the streets of LA , saved her from a vampire attack and took her in."   
"And I'm sure you did it all out of the kindness of your heart."   
"Hey I was curious. Did you notice she looks just like her mum."   
"Of course we did." Giles answered. "We should probably continue trying to find Sam. You wouldn't happen to have any idea where she could have gone, would you?"   
Angel would had been silent for awhile spoke up. "Wait. Before we help you with your search, first I deserve some answers." 

***********

Sam was sitting on a chair in the teen shelter surrounded by the noise of other teens chatting and laughing. She was starting to feel rather guilty, starting to wish she was back in Sunnydale. *_I can't go back now. Giles will be so mad. But I miss everyone so much already. I shouldn't have run off. And I nearly got myself in so much trouble. I could of been killed. I was in a vampire's apartment... but he didn't seem that bad. I mean except for looking at my stuff Spike was really nice to me. Stupid confusing vampires._* 

Sam then decided to give in and call home. She'd say she was sorry and then Giles would come and pick her up. She really just wanted to go home. Sam couldn't find a phone so instead she approached the nice woman Anne. "Did you need something?"   
"Um, I was looking for a phone. Cause I thought I'd call home. They're probably worried about me and I'm really sorry about the whole running away thing now and..."   
Anne smiled at the girl and answered, "Sure, you can use the phone in my office." 

Anne showed Sam where the phone was and left so that she could make the phone call. Sam dialed home and waited as she listened to the ringing noise. The phone continued to ring as no one picked it up. Sam frowned. *_Where are they?_* 


	9. Questions and Answers

Spike's apartment was full. Everyone had taken a seat and was staring solemnly at Angel waiting for his first question. Well except Spike who was now leaning against the wall enjoying the awkwardness that had claimed the room. Angel finally spoke. 

"So Buffy had a daughter..." 

"I think we've covered that fact deadboy." 

Angel gave Xander an irritated expression. "I wasn't finished. I was about to add, why didn't anybody tell me." 

Giles answered "Buffy didn't want to. You two had you're own separate lives at that point. She was worried that if you found out you'd come straight back to Sunnydale to help her out. She didn't want you to have to leave your new life in Los Angeles." 

Angel accepted that answer and went on to his next question. "Who's Sam's father?" 

Giles started answering like before, "Uh, well...as a matter of fact..." 

But Willow cut in. "We don't know." 

Spike smirked, "Slutty wouldn't tell you?" 

"No it wasn't that. She didn't know either." 

Before Spike could make the comment Xander knew was coming, he quickly defended Buffy. "I know what you're thinking but it's not like that. Buffy told us she didn't know because there were no possible father candidates. It wasn't too long after Thanks Giving when she found out she was pregnant. And that's all we know." 

Angel who had quietly listened to their reasons had been thinking. His brain was trying to point out the obvious explanation. But he couldn't be sure. "Near Thanks Giving?" 

"You should remember that Thanks Giving. You were lurking around keeping an eye on Buffy." 

"Oh Yeah", Spike said. "The time we got attacked by angry Native American spirits. Hanging around you guys is always a barrel of fun." 

Angel ignored Spike's comment and continued. "Then Buffy came and visited me in Los Angeles." 

"Yep. A couple of weeks after that is when she found out." added Willow. 

A look of understanding appeared on Angel's face. He finally believed the nagging voice in his head. It seemed impossible but it must the explanation. The forgotten day. The day that never happened. The day that only he remembered. Now how did he explain it to everyone else who was now looking at him with strange expressions. 

"Buffy came back from Los Angeles pregnant. I think I know who the father is." 

Willow looked confused. "But if Buffy didn't know, how could you?" 

"It's a long story" 

"You better get started then" said Spike who was even more curious now to find out how Angel suddenly knew who Sam's father was. 

Angel took a deep unneeded breath. "When Buffy visited me in my Angel investigations office we were attacked by a Mohra demon." 

"Oh yeah. I remember Buffy telling me about that demon which interrupted her visit." Willow added in, "She said you killed it rather smoothly." 

Angel looked at Willow and then the rest of the room, his expression clearly displaying his desire not to be interrupted while he continued with his description of events.   
"That's not what happened the first time." 

This comment was meet with confused expressions but no one voiced their questions. 

"The Mohra demon got away and Buffy and I decided to track it down and kill it for being rude. We followed it through the sewers, but when the trail ran cold we decided to split up. Buffy went up into the daylight to search outside and I continued along the sewer. I found the demon and we fought. I won. Well I thought I had. Some of the demon's blood had mixed with mine and then suddenly I..." 

Angel paused. The room was quiet with anticipation. "...I had a heart beat. And I needed to breath. It was so shocking, overwhelming." 

Spike butted in. "Wait are you saying you turned human. But that bloody impossible. And you're still a vampire now." He finished with a smug look on his face, secure in his logic. 

Angel just continued ignoring Spike's comments once again. "I walked back to my place outside through the sunshine. It was beautiful day. When I told Doyle and Cordelia, they straight away started researching. Well Doyle did anyway. Cordelia went to go find Buffy. Buffy and I talked for awhile, and then... well..." 

"I think we can guess what happened next." Xander said not really wanting to hear Angel say it. "So that explains the sudden pregnancy, but not the loss of Buffy's memory or how you're a vampire now. Your story needs some work." 

"That wasn't the end of the story. As I mentioned before the Mohra demon wasn't really dead. Doyle got a vision and I went after it to kill it properly. But being human I..." 

"Got your arse kicked." Spike smirked. 

Angel hated to agree with Spike. "Probably would have died if Buffy hadn't arrived. We killed the demon but I knew things couldn't stay like this. The demon had mentioned a battle that was coming. I went to speak to the oracles. They told me that Buffy would die. I asked them to take my life back because I couldn't protect anyone as a man. They told me there was one way. They created a temporal fold, turned back time twenty four hours as though the day never happened. I was the only one who would remember it." Having finished Angel unclenched his hands. 

"Oh that's so sad." Willow said, her eyes glistening slightly. 

"No it's stupid." Xander corrected. "Why didn't you just tell Buffy. Then she would have known that you were the father in the first place." 

"I, I didn't know that the day would somehow still have some sort of effect. I thought it would have been like none of it happened at all." 

"Well I think it just bloody like you." Spike added. "Gave you something new to spend hours brooding in dark corners over." 

"Well then" Giles said as he finally spoke. "I think we better go and find Angel's daughter." 


	10. Finding Sam

Spike had told them that when he first came across Sam she had been looking for a teen shelter. In the hope that she had still gone to one they had compiled a list of the teen shelters around Los Angeles. Then they split up and headed out to the different buildings. Spike had stayed behind partly in case Sam decided to return but mainly because he couldn't be bothered doing all the searching and was happy to let the others do the work. 

Angel and Willow arrived at the first place on their list. It looked familiar to Angel but he wasn't able to place it until the door was answered by a blond haired woman. 

"Anne?" Angel questioned. 

Recognition showed on Anne's face as well and she remembered her last encounter with Angel. "Angel." she stated coldly and attempted to close the door in his face. 

Angel's weight against the door kept it open. "Anne, I'm sorry. But it was a long time ago, can we please put it behind us. We need your help." 

Anne noticed that Angel wasn't alone, there was a red haired woman standing beside him on the steps. Anne was a kind person who couldn't turn away people who needed help so she sighed and let go of the door. "What's wrong?" 

Angel smiled. "Thanks, we're looking for a young girl named Sam. She hasn't stopped by here has she?" 

"Actually she has. She arrived not long ago and has been trying to call her family. I can go and get her if you like?" Anne replied. 

"Sam's here!" Willow exclaimed grinning. She gave Angel a hug of relief while Anne went to go and find Sam. She returned with her and as soon as Sam saw Willow she ran into her arms blubbering. 

"I'm sooo sorry. I shouldn't have run away, it was stupid of me and I already miss you guys so much and please don't be really mad at me." Sam looked up and noticed Angel standing behind Willow. She stopped clinging to Willow and backed up. "What's he doing here?" 

"Uh, he was helping us find you." Willow answered unsure about how much she should tell her. Angel was looking down feeling slightly ashamed for his previous behaviour when he first met Sam. 

"He's a vampire!" Sam stated. 

"I know" Willow replied. "But we shouldn't discuss this here. We should get back to the apartment and meet up with Giles and Xander." 

Sam agreed and reluctantly returned to Spike's apartment with Willow and Angel. They had rung Giles on his cell phone to let them know that they had found Sam. So when they arrived at the apartment they found Giles and Xander already there. As soon as Sam set foot in the room she found herself encased in the arms of both Giles and Xander. 

"We were so worried" Giles said. "If it wasn't for Angel's..." 

"And me" spike butted in. 

"...help, we wouldn't have found you." Giles continued. They both let go of Sam giving her room to breath. 

"Why were they helping, they're vampires." 

"Good vampires" Willow said. 

"Hey!" Spike said quickly. 

"Well Angel is. Spike's just a confused vampire." Xander added. 

"As a matter of fact Angel has something important to tell you that we just discovered." Giles told Sam. "You should probably sit down." 

Sam gave them all a confused look but sat down anyway. 

But before Angel could start getting into more long explanations, he was interrupted by Xander who was still thinking about how lucky they were to find Sam. "You know we should have known that Sam would have run away to Los Angeles." 

This time everyone gave Xander a confused look. So he elaborated. 

"You know, like mother like daughter." 

The End

* * *

**A/N**- I hope you enjoyed reading this. Please review and tell me what you think. I really appreciate getting them. Also thanks to everyone who have reviewed before, you guys are great! Special thanks to Insane1 for her many reviews. Keep an eye out for my next piece of fiction which I will be starting soon.   
Tariq- I didn't mean to show Angel & the fang gang as nincompoops. Sorry I didn't resurrect Buffy, but I thought this story had reached a conclusion. I might still write an epilogue but I'm not sure. 

And lastly these are the challenge details that this story came from: 

**Challenge #11** by chocolate, January 20, 2001 - IWRY Child Challenge   
It's 15 years after IWRY. Spike is in L.A. and he sees a very familiar looking 15 year old girl. She looks exactly like Buffy! She's a runaway. I like the name Samantha (Sam) but it's your choice. Spike takes her in and finds out (not from her) that she's Buffy and Angel's daughter. I think it works best if Buffy is dead but she doesn't have to be. Angel finds out and goes to get her. Spike doesn't want to give her up. While they're yelling at each other she runs away and they have to find her. The ending is up to you. Who does she stay with? Maybe none of them. Maybe one of them. If Buffy's alive she must get to know her daughter and preferably get together with Angel. 

must have:   
~lots of angsty memories   
~Sam arguing with Spike a lot   
~an old picture of Buffy   
~cookie dough fudge mint chip ice cream 


	11. Epilogue

**A/N:** Well here it is. The epilogue you asked for. Actually I think the story needed this. I think I may have written it a bit too fluffy, but hey it nice to read something warm and fuzzy every now and then. Hope you all enjoy reading it. 

Epilogue

A couple of months later at Thanks Giving. 

The house on Revello drive was more crowded then usual. A number of cars lay parked outside. Inside the many visitors, who although not technically relatives felt just like family, were scattered about the place. Various delicious cooking smells wafted out of the kitchen making the people sitting in the living room feel even hungrier then they thought they were. Angel was sitting on the couch discussing the latest case Angel Investigations had stumbled upon with Wesley who was sitting in a nearby chair. The whole crew from Los Angeles had come to Sunnydale for Thanks Giving. Angel had been visiting more frequently and longer to spend time with his daughter. He was considering moving back to Sunnydale but didn't want shock Sam with too many sudden changes in her life. 

Gunn and Xander were having a very animated conversation involving large hand movements. It appeared as if they were sharing their greatest battle details like old fishermen illustrating the size of 'the one that got away'. Dawn who was home for the holidays was perched on the side of an armchair telling Giles all about her latest book deal and what life in New York was like. 

In the kitchen Willow was attempting to make homemade cranberry sauce from scratch, every now and then she'd glance at the turkey roasting in the oven to make sure it wasn't burning. Sam sat on a stool at the counter in the centre of the kitchen, cutting up tomatoes and arranging them in a huge bowl of salad. In the dinning room Cordelia and Fred were setting out the plates and cutlery while chatting. 

A knock on the door briefly interrupted the conversation in the living room. Giles got up to answer it and Dawn went off to the kitchen to see if Willow needed any help. Sam who had heard the knocking from the kitchen abandoned her salad making and rushed to the front door beating Giles to it. She opened the door and grinned at the person standing there. "I thought you said you couldn't come." "Yeah well I'm evil so I'm allowed to lie." 

Spike was standing on the porch looking slightly embarrassed. Giles nearly laughed. When Sam had asked if she could invite Spike for Thanks Giving he and Angel had reluctantly agreed. After all Spike had helped them out in Los Angeles. But Giles had never expected Spike to actually turn up. "What are you grinning at Watcher?" "Nothing" Giles dismissed. "Would you like to come in?" "Thought you'd never ask." Spike replied and followed Giles and Sam into the living room. 

Sam bounded into the room and over to Angel, sitting down next to him. "Hey Dad look who made it." Angel looked up and saw Spike standing there looking uncomfortable. Their eyes met and silently agreed to be civil with one another this evening. For Sam's sake of course. Surprisingly the atmosphere in the room wasn't strained and instead felt relaxed. 

Xander approached Spike with a friendly handshake. "Hey fangless, how you doing?" "Just peachy, whelp. How's the fast food industry?" Spike replied. Xander just grinned back at Spike, "You know, I wouldn't know. I'm in construction now." They were interrupted by Willow's appearance in the doorway "Dinner's ready." 

The large group managed to fit around the dinning room table. It was slightly squashed but very cosy. They ate the delicious meal, praising Willow for the turkey and chatted about everything from Cordelia's career in film and television as Gunn made fun of her latest advertisement, to Sam's winning chemistry project in her school science fair. Fred and Willow started giving her ideas for next year's project. Giles and Wesley discussed how far they gotten translating the ancient scrolls Tyreji and whether they believed the prophecies were accurate. Dawn was describing her latest boyfriend, Jeremy, to Cordelia in great detail. Xander was telling Spike and Angel all about the big battles against evil they had fought in Sunnydale over the last 15 years, which they had missed out on. 

They were already half way through dinner when Sam suddenly exclaimed quite loudly with her mouth full of potato that they had forgotten to do a toast. Everyone fell silent and Angel was the first to raise his glass. "To Buffy" he said quietly. Everyone repeated his toast with raised glasses. Well except Spike, who replaced the word buffy with slutty. But overall it was a lovely gesture. 

Now leave a review. Please. =) 


End file.
